Portales, New Mexico
Portales is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico. The population of the city is 12,280. It is home to Eastern New Mexico University. Demographics As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the city is: 49.54% White (6,083) 43.74% Hispanic or Latino (5,371) 3.68% Other (452) 3.05% Black or African American (374) 26.1% (3,205) of Portales residents live below the poverty line. Theft rate statistics Portales has above average rates of Pokemon theft and murder. The city reported 26 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 4.27 murders a year. Pokemon See the Roosevelt County page for more info. Fun facts * The city's downtown area is centered around a traditional-style town square, based upon Spanish urban design. The center of the town square includes the 1930s WPA-style Roosevelt County Courthouse, including original architectural details from the era, as well as the adjacent 1930s post office. The Courthouse Square is ringed with retail shops. The Yam Theater, a historic theater located in the downtown area, has recently been renovated. Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) forms a sizable district with its campus and surrounding residential stock catering largely to students. Arts and cultural offerings emanate from ENMU, the third-largest state university in New Mexico. Portales ranks in the top 20% of US cities for racial diversity, percentage of college-educated adults, and percentage of people who walk or bike to work. The city rates in the top 10% of US cities for a short commute, rent affordability, and low taxes. * The Great Depression brought several important Works Progress Administration (WPA) construction projects, including the ENMU Administration Building, the downtown Portales Post Office, and the Roosevelt County Courthouse. All three buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. * The economy of Portales and surrounding communities is strongly supported by the peanut and dairy industries, ENMU, value-added food processing, a growing military presence, and agriculture (including cattle ranching, dairy farming, and crop production). In recent years, the economy of Portales has grown significantly along with the price and volume of agricultural commodities being produced in the region. The area around Portales is also drawing increased attention for its abundance of steady wind power, solar energy, and biofuel feedstock. Portales continues to be a major U.S. exporter of certified organic peanut products and a major U.S. processor and distributor of sweet Valencia peanuts. DairiConcepts with Dairy Farmers of America processes local milk into milk solids for domestic and export use. ** The Portales economy is also connected to Cannon Air Force Base located about 13 miles (21 km) to the north. The base operates a leased military-housing area in Portales with 150 single-family dwellings. Major Portales retailers include Walmart, Nintendo World, Ace Hardware, Super-Save Grocers, Allsup's, and Stripes Convenience Stores. The town also contains small, privately owned boutique shops, restaurants, professional services, several furniture stores, and a number of discount retailers and auto dealers. * According to a study conducted by Bizjournals.com, of 577 micropolitan areas, Portales ranked 15th in the nation and ninth in the western United States in overall quality of life. The goal of the study was to identify America’s most attractive micropolitan areas and points were given to small, well-rounded communities where the economy is strong, traffic is light, the cost of living is moderate, adults are well-educated, and access to big-city attractions is reasonably close. The study identified 12 categories including population growth, per capita income, small business growth, professional jobs, commuting, cost of living, and advanced degrees. Cities were given points for positive results and negative scores if they were below the national averages. These scores were then totaled to determine its overall rank on the list of micropolitan areas. Portales, the smallest city in the top 25, received a quality of life score of 8.96, the 15th highest score in the nation. According to Scott Thomas, the author of the study, the income per capita, short commuting times, low taxes, and substantial percentage of adults with a graduate degree contributed to the ranking. Los Alamos was the only other New Mexico city to be recognized in the top 20. * Portales has a bit of amenities to offer. The ones mentioned above, along with dollar stores, a contest hall and showcase theater, Blackwater Draw Museum, Roosevelt County Museum, Ace Hardware, Roosevelt County Fairgrounds, some local restaurants and businesses, a few hotels/motels, a bit of fast food, two sports complexes, some public battle fields, a few auto parts places and car dealerships, electric showers, Solstice Apparel, and a few other things. Category:New Mexico Cities